Floors or other surfaces can have a variety of designs placed on them depending upon the material used to form the floor or surface. For example, wood floors can have polished finishes, stained finishes, or painted finishes to depict certain designs. One example of this is basketball courts in which lines are painted onto the wood floor in order to mark the boundaries of the court and depict other designs, logos or advertisements. However, all of these finishes or images are semi-permanent, in that it is time consuming to remove or replace the images on the floor. In order to replace the design on the floor, the floor must be sanded to remove the finish material and refinished. In some instances, such as those associated with a portable floor application, the floor typically may need to be removed and transported to another facility in order to re-finish the floor. This process of removing the image and replacing it with a new one is a time consuming and costly process.
Some floors are portable and are designed to be able to be removed and reinstalled such as a wood floor for basketball courts in sports arenas. The wood floors are placed on a substrate, such as a concrete floor. The wood floor can be used for events such as basketball games. The floor can be removed for other arena events, such as concerts. Portable floor assemblies are typically made in a series of floor panels. Typically, the floor panels are typically 4 feet wide by 8 feet long or 4 feet wide by 4 feet long. Each panel includes a subfloor having a plurality of tongue and groove strips secured thereto. Standard strips are typically 2¼ inches wide or 1½ inches wide by a predetermined length. The strips are connected to each other to form the floor panel by any suitable fastener. An example of a connection of the strips is, but not limited to, a tongue and groove assembly. Thus, the strip has a flange or tongue on one end and a groove on the opposite edge. When the strips are placed next to each other, the tongue is received by a groove of an adjacent strip; thus, mechanically locking the strips together to form the panels. Additionally, a nail or staple can be inserted into the strips, such that the nail extends through the tongue of one strip. A series of stringers or sleepers underlies the subfloor panels and spaces the subfloor from the substrate. Often resilient pads are placed between the stringers or sleepers and the substrate. These pads help give the floor proper performance characteristics. The panels are held together by suitable connection hardware. One such example of a portable floor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,548 B1.
Currently, lights are used in a variety of ways to illuminate all or part of the floor. For example, lights are used to accent a design feature such as a logo painted onto the floor. Additionally, spotlights may be used that display a pattern when shown onto the floor surface. Each of these types of lights illuminates the floor from a point above the surface. That is, lights are typically used to accent the floor or to shine a design on the floor by being directed at the floor.
It is desirable to develop an assembly in which lights can be incorporated into the floor in order to provide an image in the floor, or provide accent lights to the floor. This would allow for a more economical means for replacing the image depicted on the floor. Further, it is desirable to develop an assembly where lights are embedded in the floor surface to accent the designs of the surface.